Samsung showed a 5" model at CES. Reminded me of the Dell Streak, which streaked by so fast, consumers never got a chance to buy one before it was discontinued. It's getting a bit ridiculous.

The streak also sucked. The Samsung Galaxy Note (ugh @ the name...should just be "Note" but they gotta shoehorn Galaxy into everything as if it's cool) is a rather nice device whether it is a seller or not. Quite innovative really but I still don't like Samsung.

I like to think of myself as an early adopter of apple gear...but b/c the recession really kicked me in the n*ts, I didn't upgrade from my ip4 to the 4s...now I think I'll wait for the ip5 and also get an iPad 3...would love ot get an Air... But will wait till they have 3G capability! Best

Personally, i find it crazy that some people will happily change their phone two times in a year (where do these kids find the cash to do that?) but they do. They're hooked on their smart phones.

Simple. The sell the Apple product for about 80% - 90% of the original value (remember they paid a cheap price up front when signing the contract) and then add in the little bit extra to buy the new phone.

This pretty much applies to Apple computers (lappies especially) as well.

If I buy an old Chevy. Put in a new engine, battery, shocks, suspension, all around new under the shell it is not a redesigned car. Don't be naive.

How about you put that old Chevy body on a brand new everything else. It's still not an old Chevy even though it looks like one. The chassis in your silly truck analogy would be the logic board that everything is attached to electronically. Check out iFixit, it's not the same board with a few components soldered on. Don't be naive.

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If I buy an old Chevy. Put in a new engine, battery, shocks, suspension, all around new under the shell it is not a redesigned car. Don't be naive.

Your making a false analogy here by talking about refurbishing a car vs. buying a new one.

A more correct analogy would be:

If the manufacturer of the Chevy came out with a new model with a new engine, new headlights and mirrors, a new radio and an all new interior, but kept the body of the car 90% the same as last years model ... it would in fact be a whole new car, just as the iPhone 4s is a whole new phone.

If I buy an old Chevy. Put in a new engine, battery, shocks, suspension, all around new under the shell it is not a redesigned car. Don't be naive.

You are deliberately missing the point. If just most of the shell is the same, but everything else is new (even the stainless steel support is differently designed), except for the screen, then it's a new phone.

Look at MS's new Lumia's. The 710 has a different case than the much more expensive 800, but the insides are almost exactly the same, except for the screen. Are they more alike than different? The newer 900 looks exactly like the 800, except it's got a bigger screen and LTE. Is that differently designed? How much different is it as a phone, when the only difference is the screen and LTE?

We can get into these silly disputes, but when most of a device is new, then it's a new device. You are using your own term to describe it.

As for the car, well, you're wrong there too. While the style remains the same, the car is redesigned, because redesigned doesn't just mean the sheet metal. And indeed, car manufacturers make minor outside changes from one year to the next, but make bigger changes otherwise, and state that it was redesigned.

The streak also sucked. The Samsung Galaxy Note (ugh @ the name...should just be "Note" but they gotta shoehorn Galaxy into everything as if it's cool) is a rather nice device whether it is a seller or not. Quite innovative really but I still don't like Samsung.

Well, yes, Dell's stuff usually does. But it still remains to be seen whether these oversized phones will attract more than a small number of people. There are complaints on other sites that Apple doesn't make differing sizes of phones the way others do. But Apple sells to the largest portion of the normal curve. The others try to sell to the extremes.

I'm as much of and Apple fan as the next guy but the product cycles for their phones are ridiculous. It seems like each phone now is just a marginal improvement over the previous generation for a not no marginal cost. I understand they're trying to make money but how about stretching it out a bit so each phone seems like it is something amazing instead of just a retread. It's starting to seem like they think Apple fans are stupid and are willing to shell out for the latest bell and whistle.

Screen elements just can NOT be differently sized on an iPhone5 than on a 3GS,4,4s. As a developer: should I develop for the 5 or the earlier phones when I'm designing buttons, table rows, charts ? It makes a huge difference if a button/row is 44 or 55 points high!

Just saying: 'Well, it's just a tiny bit different' is not adequate! It's just these little things, Steve would never have compromised. It leads to users complaining about unused space on a 5 and users complaining about too dense elements on the 4/4s. Bad compromises lead to just that: nobody satisfied!

Also, I don't know bigger screens for what ? Standard web pages are never designed for smartphones, not even a 4.5'' screen will do it. For smartphones we have customized apps or HTML5 pages. You can design EVERYTHING for a 3.5'' screen, if you want. When I'm mobile I want to have a TINY device with me, not a big one. BIG is BAD on mobile. I really feel sorry for these guys with their 4.5 or 5'' smartphones. Those must be nerds, but normal people don't like to wear half of a tablet on them every time.

I so much like the size of the current iPhone which I really really quickly pop out and store back in underground train. It's just zip zap and done. A larger device would make me sick! I can reach every area of the screen with my thumb, just perfect.

Please Apple stay with the current form factor! These 5''ers will be an episode in 2 years and Samsung will have to settle back.

I'm as much of and Apple fan as the next guy but the product cycles for their phones are ridiculous.

where's the problem ? You don't HAVE TO buy every generation. Buy every 2 or 3 or even 4 years and fine! There are many 3GS users still not desperate to change to the 5, so they might want to wait until 2013 for the 6, having used their iPhone 4 years.

I love Apple for doing improvements carefully and not just integrating this and that and then removing it again later because it just didn't spin. Everything they integrate is long retained and each year everyone might decide if to switch or not.

I'm as much of and Apple fan as the next guy but the product cycles for their phones are ridiculous. It seems like each phone now is just a marginal improvement over the previous generation for a not no marginal cost. I understand they're trying to make money but how about stretching it out a bit so each phone seems like it is something amazing instead of just a retread. It's starting to seem like they think Apple fans are stupid and are willing to shell out for the latest bell and whistle.

Those stupid people that buy new, faster iPhones that do a lot more than the previous generation that also allows them to sell their old model for about the price they bought the new one? Those stupid Apple fans?

How would you change it? Update every two years so they can go from an A5 to A7 CPU? So they don't go from 7.2Mbps HSDPA to 14.4MBps but instead hold 7.2MBps of an extra full year? What about quadrupling the resolution again? I can't discern pixels at 326ppi but 1920x1280 for 660ppi has to be better, right? I'm sure they can figure out the GPU and battery life just fine.

Or do you really want more iPhones to hit the market? How about 5 new models a week. This may mean Apple giving their iOS away, but that's okay, right? It's better for everyone that way I'm sure.

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I'm as much of and Apple fan as the next guy but the product cycles for their phones are ridiculous. It seems like each phone now is just a marginal improvement over the previous generation for a not no marginal cost. I understand they're trying to make money but how about stretching it out a bit so each phone seems like it is something amazing instead of just a retread. It's starting to seem like they think Apple fans are stupid and are willing to shell out for the latest bell and whistle.

You don't know anything about the phones. If you did you wouldn't be thinking that. And if you do know, and are thinking that, they your thinking is skewed strangely. Tell us what the difference is between the 4 and the 4S.

Screen elements just can NOT be differently sized on an iPhone5 than on a 3GS,4,4s. As a developer: should I develop for the 5 or the earlier phones when I'm designing buttons, table rows, charts ? It makes a huge difference if a button/row is 44 or 55 points high!

Just saying: 'Well, it's just a tiny bit different' is not adequate! It's just these little things, Steve would never have compromised. It leads to users complaining about unused space on a 5 and users complaining about too dense elements on the 4/4s. Bad compromises lead to just that: nobody satisfied!

Also, I don't know bigger screens for what ? Standard web pages are never designed for smartphones, not even a 4.5'' screen will do it. For smartphones we have customized apps or HTML5 pages. You can design EVERYTHING for a 3.5'' screen, if you want. When I'm mobile I want to have a TINY device with me, not a big one. BIG is BAD on mobile. I really feel sorry for these guys with their 4.5 or 5'' smartphones. Those must be nerds, but normal people don't like to wear half of a tablet on them every time.

I so much like the size of the current iPhone which I really really quickly pop out and store back in underground train. It's just zip zap and done. A larger device would make me sick! I can reach every area of the screen with my thumb, just perfect.

Please Apple stay with the current form factor! These 5''ers will be an episode in 2 years and Samsung will have to settle back.

So, by your lights, Apple can NEVER adjust the size of the phone. phooie to that! Developers have to suck up some changes. According to your thinking, Apple should never have gone to a higher resolution either.

It's really driving me nuts how everyone (bloggers, reporters, analyists, consumers, etc) continue to refer to the upcoming "iPhone 5". The 4S is the iPhone 5. If anything, the next model will be called the iPhone 6.

It's really driving me nuts how everyone (bloggers, reporters, analyists, consumers, etc) continue to refer to the upcoming "iPhone 5". The 4S is the iPhone 5. If anything, the next model will be called the iPhone 6.

It's not necessarily about salespeople and talking points. Tastes change, and especially in tech where change is a constant and predicting what is possible or desirable more than a few years out is a virtual impossibility. You just have to know it will be different. The consumer tech market today reminds me of the automobile market during the 1950s. Any manufacturer that doesn't constantly find new ways to excite consumers is going to get trampled.

I agree and this is why I think Apple will bring out v.6 of the iPhone sooner rather than later.

It's really driving me nuts how everyone (bloggers, reporters, analyists, consumers, etc) continue to refer to the upcoming "iPhone 5". The 4S is the iPhone 5. If anything, the next model will be called the iPhone 6.

How do you get that idea? Even your list shows it should be "5". You're making a joke, right?

His list doesn't show that. The only iPhone that was named directly for its generation was the iPhone 4.

The G1 iPhone was simple iPhone. The G2 iPhone was iPhone 3G denoting the generation of the baseband HW inside due to its common usage in marketing. The G3 iPhone with the same casing as the prior model kept this marketing tactic and added the 'S' for speed.

The iPhone 4 was for the 4th generation iPhone. The G5 iPhone added an 'S' which was never directly defined but followed the same pattern of the iPhone 3GS by being faster and keeping the same overall look as the previous model.

It therefore makes no sense for the G6 iPhone be called the iPhone 5 when nothing about it is 5th generation. Even iPhone 4G would make more sense than iPhone 5, but I'm betting on iPhone LTE at this point since LTE is more marketable and less confusing (even though customers don't know what it stands for), the chips should be decent in 2012, and even Sprint is deploying LTE this year. Really anything but iPhone 5 makes sense.

PS: You should retract your personal attack, Jonamac, or at least refer to the post, not the poster.

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Looking at the past it usually drops after the earnings call, so I agree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolipsismX

Here's an example: there are ≈4.5" 1280x720 Android phones... and there are ≈40" HDTVs with 1280x720 resolution. You still want to argue the dimensions of the elements wouldn't change? TIme for you to wake up.

Very true. Also, pixels are rectangular shaped on a TV.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

...don't get wound up in the hype, it is a phone that sits in your pocket next to your best friend.

I love Americans! And your whole post is so true, spot on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stelligent

"94%" of iPhone users plan to upgrade. 94%!

The precision!

Would have been even funnier if they'd guestimated the number of people, and used a decimal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dickprinter

And that makes it a P/E of, like, 10....

I hope it's just you.

Me too, if history is any proof

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garamond

Same here. 4S was never worth it for 4-owners, and it feels right to wait for iPhone 5

Many people get the iPhone 'cheapish' with a 2-year contract and renew the phone when renewing their contract. If people were to spent $600+ dollars on a phone out of pocket the interval might be larger than 24 months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercury52

It's really driving me nuts how everyone (bloggers, reporters, analyists, consumers, etc) continue to refer to the upcoming "iPhone 5". The 4S is the iPhone 5. If anything, the next model will be called the iPhone 6.

His list doesn't show that. The only iPhone that was named directly for its generation was the iPhone 4.

The G1 iPhone was simple iPhone. The G2 iPhone was iPhone 3G denoting the generation of the baseband HW inside due to its common usage in marketing. The G3 iPhone with the same casing as the prior model kept this marketing tactic and added the 'S' for speed.

The iPhone 4 was for the 4th generation iPhone. The G5 iPhone added an 'S' which was never directly defined but followed the same pattern of the iPhone 3GS by being faster and keeping the same overall look as the previous model.

It therefore makes no sense for the G6 iPhone be called the iPhone 5 when nothing about it is 5th generation. Even iPhone 4G would make more sense than iPhone 5, but I'm betting on iPhone LTE at this point since LTE is more marketable and less confusing (even though customers don't know what it stands for), the chips should be decent in 2012, and even Sprint is deploying LTE this year. Really anything but iPhone 5 makes sense.

V. 6 of the iPhone will be super thin and light and be called, iPhone Air... to be followed by the iPod Air and the iMac Air.

I'm betting on iPhone LTE at this point since LTE is more marketable and less confusing

Would it be possible for Apple to start simply calling it by the year of release? Many software programs do that, albeit sometimes a little early indicating their won't be a major upgrade next calendar year (hmpf)

Would it be possible for Apple to start simply calling it by the year of release? Many software programs do that, albeit sometimes a little early indicating their won't be a major upgrade next calendar year (hmpf)

I think that sounds good, too. Are there any numbers that are considered superstitious? Like iPhone 2013 might be fine but iPhone 13 might not be.

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Would it be possible for Apple to start simply calling it by the year of release? Many software programs do that, albeit sometimes a little early indicating their (sic) won't be a major upgrade next calendar year (hmpf)

"iPhone 5". What about the next iPhone would make ANYONE ON THE PLANET think it's going to be "5"?

Is it the 5th model? No, it's the 6th model.
Will it have an A5 chip? No, it will have an A6 chip.
Will it run iOS 5? No, it will run iOS 6.
Will it have 5G telephony? No, it will have 4G telephony.

So let's see, that's three points for "iPhone 6" and zero points for "iPhone 5".

I agree, but you are fighting a losing battle IMO because it all comes down to laziness (both intellectual and physical), on the part of tech writers and that isn't going to change now is it?

For instance all these problems magically disappear if they merely refer to the phones as "5th generation" or "4th gen" etc. but it seems that they are just too damn lazy to type that.

It all started with the iPods which for years were referred to as "2G" for second generation, and "3G" for third etc., (because we are all so f*cking lazy that the extra letters are too hard to type or something). They then replicated this nomenclature for the iPhone, but when the second generation iPhone was named "iPhone 3G" they had a big problem. Right then, the rational people stopped using this idiotic shorthand (1G, 2G, 3G etc.), but the lazy tech bloggers persevered (because being confusing and stupid doesn't trump the extra typing apparently), and many referred to the 3G iPhone as the "2G" for a year or more and the 3Gs as the "3G."

Now, most have finally dropped the "G" but are still stuck on this idea that each year is a different number even though all the facts are against them.

It's all just laziness and stupidity. The very fact that it can be fixed so easily and with such little effort (by using the "generation" term), argues against it being a problem of understanding and rather one of pig-headed idiocy.

Not once did I mention the resolution in my post. I very, very clearly pointed out the physical dimensions that would change. It's not hard to understand, changing the size of elements changes the size of the elements. Here's an example: there are ≈4.5" 1280x720 Android phones... and there are ≈40" HDTVs with 1280x720 resolution. You still want to argue the dimensions of the elements wouldn't change? TIme for you to wake up.

Less bezel, and I said basically the same physical width of device, not exactly the same. If they reduced the bezel to 1mm with a slight lip to avoid accidental thumb presses the device would probably grow 1mm in total width overall for a 3.7" display or nothing at all. Nighty nite.

Ooooh no, and here goes AppleInsider once again with the endless iPhone 5,6,7,8 and the iPad 3,4,5,6,7 rumors, this guys just can not live with the existing products, you should be instead writing about the present hardware and software, just understand, yes, everyone knows that some day a new product will be released. Please write about something actually useful.

Less bezel, and I said basically the same physical width of device, not exactly the same. If they reduced the bezel to 1mm with a slight lip to avoid accidental thumb presses the device would probably grow 1mm in total width overall for a 3.7" display or nothing at all. Nighty nite.

Seriously, dude, READ before you post! Making the vertical bezel thinner and/or reducing the thickness of the device will allow for similar and potentially better thumb rotation when using in one hand. I've made mention of this on many, many occasions as to how and why Apple could and would want to increase the display size of the iPhone.

Again, my comment was very clear to show how that dimensions of the display areas would change. I made no mention of the resolution. I made no mention of the size of the device or how it would feel in a user's hand.

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I'm really tired of the guys that write articles claiming that iPhone 4s is the same design as the 4. It is just plain ignorance folks and frankly Apple insider can do better. The phone has all of the following new: antenna, battery, processor, base band chips, GPS system, effectively all new electronics.

You forgot the camera which is awesome.

Really the only things that didn't change were the case and the Retina Display. Apple basically changed the most important stuff.

The chance of iOS 6 (much less 8) supporting the 3Gs are slim. But if it does, it will be a big deal. Whatever iPhone people migrate to will make Apple happy. We can be sure that moving from their least expensive model to the next least expensive model is far better than them migrating to something else.

If Apple can support the 3GS one year past its discontinuance, it would be considered to be mucho important, particularly considering how long it would have been supported.

The 3GS is going to around in 2-4 years. It is now the cheap model, not the year before last years model. They may change the chip in future versions of this cheap model, and minor design changes but it is now the cheap model.